Whole Briefcase Full Of Versions

Hope you can see all the drawings above. But if you can't you probably can't see the first one very well, which is the worst!

So lookit this. Lots of versions. What's going on?

Number 1 was way off... I could tell the design was terrible and I needed to try again. I flipped the page over and did #2. I liked the fat gangster on the left ("Lefty"), wasn't sure about his action, but didn't like the one on the right ("Righty")- he didn't seem nearly tough enough. 

Version #3 was getting there. Lefty looks good, I liked his face and his body looks bulky enough. I got rid of the action of him buttoning up his jacket because I wasn't sure it was reading. Righty looks cool and handsome, which I really liked but knew he should be riffling the bills as was suggested (though poorly drawn) in version #2.

And then as the sun was going down, I decided I had to wrap it up and did version #5. I put the suit buttoning action back in on Lefty - it somehow felt right, like they're getting ready for business. I tried tilting Righty's head and put the riffling bills action on him. It took a few go-rounds before I got something that looked convincing and was read-able.

... and then the inking - version # 5. Not much different there. I returned Righty's head tilt and body shape/line of action back to how it was in version #3, and widened Lefty's body a bit.

It's all an effort to keep going till I get there, till it looks like I imagine and I think I did.

A Bit 'O Colour

Another month, another Orchid Society Cartoon, and yes, there is a bit of colour!

You can see the concept and drawing was pretty well sorted from the start (drawing 1).

Drawing 2 (the little bit at the top left) shows some interesting things. The little tiny alien shows how I changed the design slightly by altering the proportions and trying to add a line of action through the body. I like how that little one turned out more than I like any of the other larger alien drawings. You can also see I was working on the design of the flying saucers, the panel layout with the "translation" panel across the bottom of the cartoon (not shown in these roughs, but is present in final) and the alien's language.

Panel 3 is the rough for the final cartoon. I really like the flying saucers shooting at the buildings. When I did it, I was reminded of a time WAAAY long ago when I was drawing with another kid who was drawing a war scene. As he drew a tank shooting at a few soldiers, he made gunfire sound effects. Next time you draw something like that, try making sound effects. It might not improve the drawing but sure makes it more fun to draw! Pew, pew pew go the flying saucer laser bullets.

And the last one (drawing 4) was initially done in grey tones, but got thinking about Mr. Illustrated Ghost's ongoing request for colour. I had an idea of how the colour should be, so just went for it.  It's pretty good, but now that I look at it, I have a problem... what's the rectangle on the floor? Is it a carpet or light coming from the window? I meant it as light, but if so, why isn't that light being blocked by the aliens and then why are their shadows under them, not stretching to the bottom left with the light? Yes, I agree, let's say it is a carpet! It was during the inking that I made the alien's pupils rectangular which is kind of interesting.

The dialogue (or translation) was difficult to make short but say everything that needed to be said, but lucky for me, Christine helped out. I like how a part of the alien's language is in the translation which suggests that word or phrase cannot be translated into anything meaningful to humans.

And here's the final piece.

Whose Government Is It Anyway?

Dear CBC

I am writing to you in regards to the Wendy Mesley and Terry Milewski's repeated use of "Trudeau government" on the Friday November 6th National News broadcast.

One thing that really bugged me about the media reporting during Steven Harper's rein was the repeated usage of the phrase "Harper Government" as if he created it and we were his subjects.  I didn't vote for him, I resented how he led and the direction he took the country.  Let us never again be so constrained.   It is your government, it is my government, it is the government of the Canadian people that should be working FOR all Canadians.

Please feel free to publish this cartoon and letter if you so desire. I drew and wrote the cartoon and joke so you need not worry about rights infringement.

Sincerely,


James Wood

Bug Eyes

It's been a while since my last posting during which my Christine put together a collection of these cartoons into a little book. It's pretty gratifying to see all of them (all 18!!) in one place. I can appreciate how much I've done and also how much better they have become. A huge pile of gratitude must go out to Mr. Illustrated Ghost for helping me make these better and better. Your constructive criticism and suggestions have REALLY helped. While the quality of the jokes has been quite varied,the first cartoons were only black line drawings with a computer font. They looked ok, but they look tonnes better now. THANKS MAN!!

Ok, about this one...

You can see the joke was pretty well envisioned in the rough stage. Initially I didn't have any bugs in the drawing, but then I thought of sticking them in which really helps make the thing funnier. I've always known that big eyes make a character cuter, but when I inked the Mealybug's eyes, I inked them with little pupils (see the second from the left). It could be interpreted that the bugs are taking her hostage or somehow being threatening. I thought they should be worried for their own safety and feeling vulnerable, so by giving them bigger eyes, the effect was achieved.

The Schwarzenegger-like military dude looks suitably tough, beefy and frightening.  I like how one eye looks squinty and the other is wide with rage. I was a little concerned that with recent violent episodes in the news, showing someone with a gun would offend an audience, but I decided to do it anyway. The joke required a scary looking gun.

Well, another 3 1/2 weeks another American Orchid Society Cartoon! Thanks Christine and Mr. Ghost for all your help and support. Mealybugs everywhere could wish for such kindness and help you both have given me!

Use the Knife

There was a period of about a week between doing drawing #1 and doing the inking (#3). On the same day I inked the final, I did another rough - drawing #2.

I did drawing #2 because I thought the initial concept (which, incidentally, didn't change much between rough and inked) because I thought the woman was cruel and the whole cartoon was mean. I showed it to my editor (my Christine) and she liked version #1 the best, so I went with it.  True, I didn't have the kid's word bubble/joke worked out, but it would have been something like "How do you like my orchid-chain tiara?"  Not much funny there.

One great thing about working on these is that I think I am learning how to be funnier and I can see that this one works and is funny because it is mean. Sometimes it is satisfying to see someone doing something awful, something hurtful because sometimes we want to be mean and hurtful. Odd business this humour thing!

I think the man's hands should have been raised, or somehow out of the way of the orchids to better show their lack of blooms and perhaps I should have pushed the woman a bit to the right. That would have made the composition a bit more balanced and less crowded up around the word bubble.

I like the woman's hair and her more feminine hands. The style is really solidifying. Thanks for the help with this one, CC! And also thanks to Mr. Illustrated Ghost, who said my inking (with its thick and thin lines) reminded him of the American Denis the Menace cartoons. That comment has helped me to explore the line work more, to great effect.